An Unexpected Plan
by Metal Bikini Extra Large
Summary: The young Lord Vader feels there is something important missing from his life, and takes steps to fill that void. AU – Vader is suitless, Padme is younger than canon, the events of TPM etc did not occur. Rated T for themes related to slavery, adult situations, drug use, mild horror, but nothing explicit.
1. Chapter 1

**An Unexpected Plan**

Green rushed back to his private office when the call came through about his visitor, quickly thinking through all of his recent business dealings to check there had been nothing to prompt any Imperial interest. His business might be considered morally questionable by many, but he was always careful to keep on the right side of the law, and he could not think of any reason why Lord Vader, second in command of the Empire, would turn up unannounced and demand to see him.

He slowed as he neared the door, making sure his clothes were neat and his face had a suitably trustworthy expression in place. That expression, plus a reputation for honesty as well as ruthlessness, had allowed his business to grow far beyond the usual limits. He just hoped it would work this time.

"Good afternoon, my lord. How may I be of service?" Honest and straightforward, nothing to hide. He still couldn't think of anything he should need to hide, so hopefully it was just a misunderstanding, whatever it was. Lord Vader loomed above him, but for once the trademark black hooded cloak was thrown back revealing the dark blond hair and youthful face more often seen in propaganda than in reality. The expression was bland; no sign there of what this was about.

"A number of your competitors have mentioned your name, in connection with locating and importing certain types of merchandise." Green nodded, that was an accurate, if rather incomplete, description of his business. "I have a set of requirements which your competitors consider difficult to fulfil, and they have recommended that I come to you."

Green blinked. That was unexpected. He quickly rearranged his thoughts and spoke smoothly.

"Well, my business has always focussed on individual clients and their specific requirements, rather than bulk imports of the more standard merchandise. Please let me know what it is you are looking for, and I can give you an idea of how difficult it might be to source such an item." As well as honesty, Green's business success had always been helped by his ability to talk to the client in whatever style of language would suit them best, and he fell quite easily into using the same terms as Lord Vader, encouraging him to feel that they understood one another.

"I am interested in an outright purchase. Human. Female. Minimum 16 standard years. Maximum ten years above that. In pristine condition. Not just in the strictest technical sense, but in a more general sense. Untouched."

Green automatically translated the requirements as they were given to him. A slave who was still a virgin at 16 would be a great rarity; they were available for sex from 13, male and female alike. No wonder his competitors had not wanted to take on the job - they were accustomed to providing young men and women for both brothels and individual customers, but the biggest markets were in fresh 13 year olds and in experienced workers.

"As my competitors have no doubt already told you, such items are rare. I very much doubt that we will able to provide one from stock, rather we would need to look out for one that is new to the market. Is there a time constraint?"

"Not specifically. I had assumed that such items were readily available, but the repetition from your competitors as to the difficulty of meeting my requirements has forced me to reconsider."

"Well, I have a great many contacts in many systems. Once I pass the word to them to keep an eye out for such an item then as soon as one becomes available, I will know about it and be able to arrange the purchase on your behalf. No other business would be able to acquire one more quickly; you have my word on that." It was true enough, if he heard of another getting their hands on what Lord Vader wanted, he would make sure he got it off them one way or another. This client was far too important to lose.

"Very well" Vader stood and held out his hand to shake Green's firmly. "Let me know when you have made progress."

And with that he was gone, and Green sank thankfully down into his chair to contemplate which of his suppliers would be most likely to acquire a newly-enslaved 16 year old girl in the near future.

* * *

Padme Naberrie was trying very hard not to think about it, but every time she stopped focussing utterly on something else - such as counting the bricks in the wall opposite her, or tracing the route of the wires and conduits along the ceiling - her mind returned to wondering what was going to happen to her next. The three days since the debt collectors had arrived had been spent mostly in this cell, apart from occasional questioning from those who had put her here and an uncomfortable and humiliating visit to a doctor. The hard-faced woman who seemed to be in charge here had seemed worryingly happy about the doctor's pronouncement that she was a virgin, though it had only confirmed what she had already, blushingly, told her captors when they questioned her. They had wanted to know everything about that side of her life, going over the questions in different ways while she repeatedly assured them that there had been nothing of that sort in her life so far. The doctor's announcement had ended the questioning, but then strangely led to a long conversation between the woman and another of the 'debt collectors' about her date of birth. What the significance of that might be she wasn't sure, though she had replayed the heated conversation over in her head many times.

Her virginity, on the other hand, she could understand the importance of, though whether it was a good thing or a bad thing she was still undecided on. Probably good, at least no-one would expect her to be an expert. But, if her value depended on it, then it underlined what she would be bought for, and that was a far cry from how she had seen her life developing in her imagination. If things had gone differently two years ago, if her father had agreed to let her put her name forward for election to queen... But there was no point thinking about that now, her father had vetoed the idea, though she had tried to argue that it was the perfect way for her to get into politics. He had been adamant that she needed to finish her schooling before she decided what to do with her life, and that had been that.

Not that she would ever finish school now. While her father's creditors had limited themselves to 'final demand' notices she had still expected to complete this year at least, get her basic qualification, and then probably have to leave and work fulltime rather than just in the evenings and weekends. But the demands had switched to legal notices with a terrifying amount of small print, then to the arrival of the debt collectors to lay claim to everything of value, which included her and father himself. They had been separated almost at once, and she had only seen other women and children here. Presumably adult men were kept in a different place.

She might never see him again.

Actually, she found that she struggled to be as upset by that thought as she felt a dutiful daughter ought to be. The reality was that he had not been much of a father for the past few years, and she had often felt pushed into the role of parent rather than child, as he failed to sort out his business or the encroaching loans which took more and more of his limited income, and seemed unwilling or unable to make any attempt to get help for them. She pushed the thought away as unkind and unfair, but in some ways it was easier to have only her own fate to consider now.

But that led back to considering it, which she really wanted to avoid.

She went back to counting bricks. It kept her mind busy enough.

* * *

On the fourth day she was removed from the cell, and transferred with several others to a ship, with a new set of guards. For the whole two days and nights of the journey, she was kept separate from the others and only spent time with the two female guards; while the other women were kept separate from the male slaves but not from the guards. She couldn't help thinking about the fact that her virginity was being protected very carefully at all times.

The female guards even stayed with her after they left the ship, taking her in binders into a vehicle and through the city to a small office, where a smartly-dressed man questioned her again. Once again, his interest seemed to focus on both her innocence, and her age. That was discussed between him and a colleague for quite some time, though she couldn't follow all of it. But it seemed that her being still two months short of her 16th birthday was causing some kind of complication. Finally a conclusion seemed to have been reached, and she was taken into another room along the corridor from the office and left there with just one guard, female of course, and there was nothing to do again but sit and wait. There were no exposed bricks here, so she spent her time estimating the sizes of several prints on the walls and calculating the total area of picture compared with the wall area.

* * *

Green rehearsed his arguments carefully before putting through the call. His client had been very clear about his requirements and he was not a man to accept sloppy work. But then again he had been prepared to be flexible about timescales and this was a problem that would be fixed soon enough with no further effort or expense, simply by the passage of time. And, most importantly, this was the first candidate his sources had found who met the criteria in other regards. Added to which she was pretty, with a good figure, and her obvious embarrassment at his questioning left no doubt that she had the innocence his client wanted. A two-month delay in delivery was a minor matter compared with that, surely.

He shook himself and determined to stop going round in this circle. He was as ready as he could be, and the matter could only be resolved by speaking to his client.

Unfortunately, his client could not take the call. Some rather careful wording, informing Lord Vader that an item he had ordered was now available for inspection, made an acceptable message to leave with someone who might or might not have any idea about his employer's personal arrangements.

In the meantime, Green would make sure the girl was looking her best.

* * *

After sitting waiting for an hour or more, the sudden increase in activity caught Padme by surprise. Her guards hustled her to yet another room, this one with a shower into which she was ordered. It was good to feel clean again, and she was happy to have fresh clothes after remaining in the same ones for days, though she would not have chosen a pink floral dress for herself, nor white ankle socks and sandals. Her hair was carefully brushed, and held back with pink hairclips, and her fingernails were neatly cut and filed. Then she was hurried back to the previous room again, for more waiting.

There was no clock in the room, so she wasn't sure, but it seemed to be late afternoon before anyone came again - this time the man who had questioned her earlier, leading a tall figure in a black cloak with the hood up and covering his face. She stood up immediately to be polite, though she wasn't sure whether to expect to be introduced or quite what was normal in the circumstances.

There was no introduction, the figure merely seemed to regard her for a few moments, then turned away and swept out of the room without having said a word.

Padme sat down, startled and even frightened. It had been bad enough waiting for someone to come and show an interest in her, far worse to be virtually ignored, presumably by the potential buyer. What would happen to her now?

Green was similarly worried. He had hoped, after his somewhat stammered explanation about her age when Lord Vader had arrived without any advance warning, that the sight of the girl and the fact that he had offered to 'arrange storage until an agreed delivery date' would be sufficient to conclude the deal. But his lordship had barely glanced at the girl, despite all the efforts he had gone to in order to find one that was so close to a match for his requirements.

Lord Vader now stopped in the middle of the corridor that led to the exit, turned to Green and said "I will arrange the transfer of funds. You may deliver the item this evening" and continued out of the building, leaving Green confused and wondering if he had heard right.

* * *

Padme sat, unregarded and frightened, until one of the guards returned with a tray of food. She barely picked at it. What next? She had been certain from the special treatment that there was a buyer lined up for her, that she wasn't simply going to be sent to a brothel to satisfy whatever men came in off the street. But if that had been the buyer, he had not seemed interested, not enough to ask her any questions or even to look at her clearly. How much effort would they put into finding another? Would they just cut their losses by getting rid of her cheaply to a brothel now?

The man in charge returned after she had long given up on the food, holding a set of binders in his hand.

"Please, what's going to happen to me now?" she asked timidly.

He looked startled at the question, as if noticing her as a person for the first time. "Oh, right, I don't suppose anyone has caught you up then?" he asked after a few moments. "The transfer has gone through, so you officially belong to Lord Vader now. You'll have to wear these until I deliver you to him - you're too valuable to risk losing you on the journey at this late stage."

"He...bought me then? That man who was here?" That was startling, he really hadn't looked interested.

"Yes. Unusual man, not exactly chatty. Prompt payer though." He was smiling and even rubbing his hands together at the thought. It had been a good price from his point of view, obviously.

It took only around 20 minutes in the vehicle until they arrived at their destination. During that time, and during the transfers at either end, Padme saw nothing of the city she had been brought to, as the parking areas were inside buildings and the screens were kept darkened throughout. She wasn't even sure if they had been travelling outside or through buildings and tunnels. If she had had any thoughts of escaping, they would quickly have been squashed by the guards and the binders, but in fact she had no plans of trying to get away from them. In a strange city with no friends she had little to look forward to apart from probable rape and murder. At best she would have to sell her body to buy food and shelter. Whatever fate awaited her as a slave it could not be worse than what freedom would give her here.

She was handed over to a liveried man of middle years, the binders removed and a document signed. As she was being led further into the building she was aware of the sound of the vehicle pulling away somewhere behind her, and was acutely aware that her new life, whatever it was to be, had begun.


	2. Chapter 2

Padme was led into a large hallway, and then to a small room which the man accompanying her used a card and a passcode to enter. There, he asked her to hold out her left arm, and fastened a thick metal bracelet around it; passing some kind of electronic device over the join once it was closed.

She looked at it curiously then asked "Excuse me, can you tell me what it is for?"

He looked a little startled, and then smiled. The effect was reassuringly friendly.

"My apologies miss, I'm afraid I was very much focussed on making sure of this. It was rude of me not to explain what I was doing, or even introduce myself. We weren't expecting you until Lord Vader called an hour ago, and he will be away for at least a couple of days, so I have been rather rushed setting up the security. What would you like to know? How much has his lordship already explained about the arrangements for your stay with us?"

Padme opened and shut her mouth a few times, while her brain tried to process the new information. "Um, nothing at all. I saw him briefly but we didn't have any opportunity to talk." Did this man know who and what she was? Were slaves a usual part of life here? He seemed comfortable enough with the idea of setting up 'security', and yet he was talking to her perfectly politely.

"As I say, we've not had much information. Just the message that a young lady would be arriving for an extended stay. The bracelet will stop you from going outside the apartment and gardens on its current settings, but you can wander freely within those boundaries. It will give you a warning if you get too close to the limits, which will let you know not to go any further."

"What happens if I do?"

His face became serious. "The 'warning' will switch to something far less pleasant. If that doesn't convince you, then at the boundary itself it will simply knock you unconscious and send a message to the guards to come and collect you. And then, you should know, I have Lord Vader's permission to restrict your movements further. We can set it to keep you within the apartment, or even within your own suite, if you decide to be difficult."

"And... what am I expected to do here?"

He looked a little confused at the question. "Well, there are books and holonet access although you won't be able to receive or send messages. If you'd like anything else within reason then we should be able to provide it. We were warned that you would be arriving without any luggage, so Mrs Bridges will speak to you about getting some clothes ordered up, and any other bits and pieces you need. You can let her know about meals as well, if there's anything you dislike so that she can plan what to cook."

Padme was definitely puzzled now. The man was speaking to her as if she were a guest, wondering how to fill her time. But obviously he knew she wasn't here by choice, else the bracelet and threats of further restrictions would not be necessary. She decided to leave the question for now. Hopefully things would become clearer over time.

"Thank you. I'll try to be a considerate guest while I'm here."

The man's smile broadened. "That's the best way, miss. I'll get Mrs Bridges to show you around and sort out the practicalities."

* * *

Mrs Bridges turned out to be a sensible-looking woman in her fifties, whose first glance clearly took in the exhaustion and nerves that her 'guest' had been trying to suppress, and the tour of the apartment became simply leading Padme through to an elegant suite of rooms with soft feminine decor, and asking if she had eaten yet.

Padme suddenly became aware of how little she had eaten during the day, and readily agreed to the suggestion that a meal should be brought to her here. A further suggestion that if she were to change into a robe her current clothing could be washed through for the morning caused a little more hesitation. But Mrs Bridges assured her that she wouldn't be disturbed in her rooms, and frankly since anyone who decided to 'disturb' her probably wouldn't be bothered either way by her state of dress, the prospect of clean clothes to look forward to was a tempting one.

By the time Mrs Bridges returned with a tray of food, Padme had stripped down and showered in the luxurious ensuite, dried herself, and was wearing a very long thick robe, which was pale pink.

She wondered, as she worked her way through a plateful of some kind of casserole with dumplings, what the significance was of this suite of rooms and the fact that it was obviously designed for a young woman. With only an hour's notice of her arrival it had clearly not been set up just for her, although the provision of fresh flowers on the mantelpiece and the robe and toiletries may have been in response to her arrival and her lack of luggage.

But they were clearly not surprised by a young woman arriving unexpectedly and without so much as a toothbrush. Had Lord Vader bought other girls like her before, and if so what had happened to them? Had he simply got tired of them and replaced them with a newer model? If he liked innocence, then presumably their shelf-life was limited. Would she be 'traded in' when he became bored? And then what?

She shook her head. Guessing would be useless. Even asking the staff was unlikely to get her any useful answers, though she might be able to get some hints if she didn't ask directly but just chatted to them about life here and listened carefully to their unguarded answers. They either didn't know what she was, in which case they probably didn't know what had happened to her predecessors, or they knew and were maintaining a polite fiction.

With that thought, she put the tray of empty dishes outside the door to the suite, and turned in for the night. She had two days at least before Lord Vader returned, and she could spend them trying to understand as much as she could about the situation here, so that she would be in a better position to understand him when he got back.

* * *

She slept later than she had expected in the morning, the luxury of a proper bed and the difficulty in sleeping for the last few nights combining to keep her under until mid morning. Her clothes - or rather the ones she had been given - were clean and pressed and waiting for her in the living room of the suite, and she put them on after her shower, though reluctantly. Did Lord Vader really want her to dress like this, or had it been the choice of those who had sold her to him?

And how did she ask for breakfast?

She looked around the room and saw a comms unit on a side table. Since she wasn't allowed to send or receive messages, it was unlikely that she'd be allowed to make calls outside either, so it must be internal. She lifted the receiver, found a button labelled 'kitchen' amongst the choices, and pressed it.

'Good morning miss, shall I bring breakfast to your room, or would you prefer it in the parlour?"

Since she had no idea where to find the parlour, her room seemed the safer choice. She would have to ask for that tour later.

A young girl brought the tray of breakfast, saying "If you please, miss, ring when you're done and Mrs Bridges will come and speak to you about new clothes."

They were very thoughtful, and quick to guess what she would need. As slavery went, this was extremely civilised.

* * *

They took the promised tour of the apartment, with Mrs Bridges indicating just one doorway that was closed to her. So long as she behaved, it seemed she had the use of the parlour, dining room, library, and a very pleasant sitting room with wide doors out onto a terrace and then the garden. Though keen to have the chance to explore it, Padme thought it prudent to deal with practicalities while she had Mrs Bridges' attention, and they talked about meals (quite simple since Padme had never been a fussy eater), laundry arrangements (a hamper in her bathroom which had somehow still been in the laundry room on her arrival), and clothing. For that, they sat together at a screen and she was simply to pick out whatever she wanted.

Padme frowned. What did she want? If Lord Vader liked girls in floral dresses, would he be disappointed if she chose outfits to suit her own preferences? This seemed a safe way into asking Mrs Bridges a little more about the man she had barely met but who was going to have a very big influence on her life from now on.

"Does Lord Vader have preferences about how his guests ought to dress? Or young women in general?"

Mrs Bridges seemed surprised at the question. "Not that he has ever mentioned, miss. I'm not sure it's something he pays much attention to in general."

"What sort of things is he interested in? I really don't know the first thing about him, and if I'm going to be here for some time then it would be helpful to know."

"Oh he's not likely to be here very much, miss. The last time we had a guest for any length of time he was away a lot. It's likely to be the same this time. You should simply focus on whatever clothes and activities suit you while you're here. He may have dinner with you sometimes though. The Emperor won't want him to ignore you completely."

Padme looked at that last sentence from every angle and it still didn't make any sense.

"The ...Emperor..?" she asked at last.

Mrs Bridges looked as puzzled as Padme felt. "Probably best to leave that until Lord Vader is back if he hasn't had a chance to talk to you yet. Let's focus on getting you a few sets of clothes for now." That line of conversation was clearly over, and they focussed on picking out clothing in simple styles and subtle colours, then Padme finished by picking out underwear and nightwear for herself. Mrs Bridges was clearly not going to answer any more questions about her employer or the situation, as it was obvious that Padme didn't know something important. She cursed silently to herself. What was happening? How could the Emperor possibly be interested? Or were the staff mistaking her for someone else?

That made more sense. They had only been given the shortest notice of her arrival. Perhaps the last 'guest' here had genuinely been a guest and not a slave girl. When their employer returned and they realised the error, then doubtless the suite, the clothes, and the delicious meals would all be gone and her true status would emerge. Padme's hopes that her life here would be a comfortable one evaporated. It was all a mistake and she shouldn't get used to it.

* * *

For the rest of the day, and through the next, Padme did her best to be unobtrusive and not to ask any awkward questions - when they realised what she was, they would be angry if she had spent the intervening time lording it over them, so it would be sensible to give them nothing to resent. It truly was a pleasant place in which to spend time - full of books, and with a small but beautiful garden. She had found paper and pencils in a drawer and spent time outside sketching during much of the daytime. A high wall surrounded the garden, presumably forming the limit of her movements, but areas of tall trees and trellises fooled the eye into thinking there were other areas beyond and reduced any feelings of being trapped. The lack of a view upwards and outwards made her wonder how high up they were - there were no buildings to overlook them, yet the impression she had formed as they travelled had been of a busy city.

On the second evening, she was sitting in the library reading when she heard movement and voices elsewhere in the house, then the door was suddenly opened and Lord Vader himself walked in. He seemed surprised by her appearance, looking her up and down thoughtfully before saying "Yes, that suits you much better. You'll have dinner with me this evening?"

It was phrased as a question, and she stammered "Yes, of course. That would be lovely" and then blushed at her stupidity.

* * *

Dinner was served in the formal dining room - the first meal she had eaten there - and they chatted politely over three courses before Lord Vader dismissed the servants and they sat in silence for a while over their coffee.

Finally Lord Vader spoke "You must have a great many questions. I will do my best to answer them honestly."

All kinds of questions bubbled in Padme's head, but the one she blurted out first was "Why does Mrs Bridges think the Emperor cares about me?"

Lord Vader looked blank. Padme blushed and continued, explaining about the conversation.

Lord Vader looked stunned at first, then threw back his head and laughed. Then equally abruptly stopped and said more soberly. "Oh dear. That's going to need some sorting out."

Padme's heart sank. She was right, the staff had misunderstood, and everything was going to change.

Vader looked at her curiously, then reached out and patted her hand reassuringly. "Don't be alarmed. I didn't explain anything, to the staff or to you, so it is entirely my fault that there's been a mixup. The fact is, the last houseguest I had was a prisoner of the Empire. The Emperor asked me to house her here, rather than her going into a prison cell, to ensure that her father would amend his behaviour. When I arranged for your arrival here, I simply told Mark to make the same security arrangements as we had then, and he must have assumed that the situation was similar. I haven't mentioned my plans to the Emperor yet, though I imagine he'll have an opinion. He does about most things." The last sentence was delivered through gritted teeth, and Padme rather got the impression that Vader did not appreciate how much the Emperor was involved in his decisions. But as second in command of the Empire, he would have to expect that surely?

Vader smiled and shook off his tension. "You are a remarkably patient young woman. I knew at once that you would suit me very well." He sipped a little more of his coffee before continuing. "My life has been very busy for the last few years, but when I have time to myself I have been increasingly aware of something important missing from it. I have thrown myself into my duties to the Empire, but the feeling has not gone away. I considered a number of solutions of course - marriage would seem the obvious one but I have no time to court some young woman, and it would be unfair to expect her to live here quietly waiting for my visits. There could be legal complications too if it did not work out. No doubt one of the palace concubines would have been happy to oblige me, but I consider their morals unacceptable in the circumstances."

Padme managed to maintain a polite if rather fixed and glassy expression. It seemed such an odd and impersonal way to talk about the situation. And why was he bothered about the concubines' lack of morals? Surely that was the point of concubines?

He continued "So, I reached the conclusion that legally purchasing a suitable young woman was the most straightforward way to provide what I need. I limited the search to young women of decent character, and to those who were over 16. I realise you have not yet reached that age, so we will not begin until your birthday has passed. It is a technicality of course, but if you were to conceive immediately I should not want the birth certificate to show that your age had been under 16 at the time."

Padme found herself nodding in agreement, then stopping open-mouthed as her brain caught up with the words. "Conceive...?" she found herself echoing.

"Yes. I know that there is no requirement for the delay since you are legally a slave, but I would prefer that the status of my child's mother was not general knowledge."

She opened and closed her mouth a few times without managing to make any coherent sounds.

"Ah." Vader concluded with a sigh "You had thought I was speaking of mere... physical companionship? I could obtain that far more easily and cheaply. No. I have purchased you so that you can conceive and bear me a child, an heir. Possibly more than one, but one for now. We can discuss more later, when we see how things go."

The power of speech seemed to have left Padme completely. That simply wasn't something she had thought of - if anything, she had thought that he would want to take steps to avoid a pregnancy, not that he deliberately intended to start one. But it was, in a peculiar way, logical.

"So, legally, you would own the child because you own me?" she thought out loud.

"Precisely. A free woman would have legal rights if we were to divorce. And I believe it is best for a child to have an ongoing relationship with its mother, so I want that mother to be a woman of decent moral character. Your looks and intelligence are also positives for me - I think you will do very well as a mother. Of course you will have as much paid help as you wish - nannies and so on - if you do not wish to deal with the everyday practicalities. But your presence and example will be an important factor in raising the child to be healthy and emotionally stable."

"R…right, yes, I see. Um, do you intend to tell the staff that's what I'm here for?" Padme stifled the urge to giggle at the thought of that conversation.

Vader seemed to consider that for a while. "No. I think not. They are polite and respectful, but I hardly want others to be speculating on our success or otherwise. I will tell them only that you are my guest. In the meantime, I will have a doctor come to talk with you about your fertility. You understand, I do not intend to impose on you more than is unavoidable. The doctor should be able to identify which dates will give a high probability of conception, and on those evenings you will visit me in my rooms. When it is clear that you have successfully conceived a child, that part of our arrangement will cease."


	3. Chapter 3

They had parted soon after, with Lord Vader politely taking his leave of her as though she were genuinely a guest in his home like any other, and Padme returned to her suite in a daze. Of all the things she had expected from slavery, a calm and logical choice to buy her to provide a child had not been on the list. It made an odd sort of sense though, to buy a woman rather than risk the legal complications of a failed marriage. And, since he seemed to have little expectation of their developing anything like a relationship, his doubts about the probable success of a marriage were probably well founded. He had been polite and pleasant, but also somewhat cold and distant. From what Mrs Bridges had said he would rarely be home anyway, which would mean developing any kind of relationship, even friendship, would be a slow process. Add in the fact that he would doubtless be travelling frequently, perhaps away from home for weeks or months at a time, and his cold-blooded decision to buy a young female slave with whom to conceive became entirely sensible.

And then perhaps... perhaps he didn't even like women that way in any case? She had never heard any rumours about the second in command of the Empire, but doubtless any indiscretions would be kept quiet. It might be well known within court circles, if his preferences lay elsewhere. He would hardly be the first man in a position of power to maintain a relationship with a woman for political purposes while making more personal arrangements with pretty young men. She shook herself. She had barely met the man and it was beyond foolish to read anything into the situation beyond what he had said openly. He wished for a child, and had bought her to bear one for him. Once her birthday had passed she would be expected to visit him on evenings when she would be at her most fertile, and they would have sex. Whether either of them enjoyed it wouldn't be the point, it was simply the means to an end. It made no difference if he was visiting concubines for his pleasure, or had a mistress, or whatever the male equivalent of a mistress or concubines might be. Her role was to be the mother of his child... the mother of the heir of the man who was second in command of the Empire.

She sat down hurriedly at that thought, and considered it more carefully. Did that mean that her child would be his political heir, or was he just thinking in terms of money and titles? Assuming that his title was the kind of thing that was inherited anyway... She frowned to herself - the fact was that she knew next to nothing about this man. It would be worth finding out a lot more, and quickly.

* * *

The next day Padme spent several hours going through the holonet to find every possible mention of Lord Vader. Most of them were no help at all, merely listing public events he had appeared at, and his military victories against the separatists. Few mentioned his past and only then in the sketchiest of terms. He had appeared from nowhere, it seemed, at around the time of the founding of the Empire. While Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, as he had then been, had a long and detailed public history, the young man he had announced as his heir and second in command might have popped into existence only the month before. His name showed no previous history before that date. There had been speculation at first of course, but it had been politely yet firmly discouraged by the Palace, and had in any event been fruitless. Rumours had circulated that he had been a Jedi, but if so it had been under another name. Other rumours said that he came from Emperor Palpatine's home planet, but since that was her own world of Naboo she knew better than most that there was no previous knowledge of him there. The rest of the rumours were so contradictory that they added up to nothing in particular.

Lord Vader dined with her again that evening, though he seemed out of sorts. After they had eaten he... suggested... that she might find better uses of her time than checking up on him. She blushed and stammered an apology. Of course he would have things set up so that he knew what was being accessed within his home, especially since he had hosted Imperial prisoners there. The system would surely have flagged up her interest in no time. She cast around for an excuse for her impolite level of interest, and could only explain rather lamely that she was used to being in school and having far more to exercise her thoughts.

He had been startled at that, and asked her all about what she had been studying, what she liked and disliked, what her plans had been. He seemed genuinely interested in what she said, but oddly ignorant of what was covered in schools, either under the Empire or the old Republic. She quietly filed that thought to ponder later. He could only be a few years older than her, surely the curriculum had been standardised far longer than that?

"Would... would it be possible for me to keep studying and get my basic school qualification? I know it's not really meaningful any more, but..." she trailed off, conscious of the stupidity of the question. Who ever heard of slaves with qualifications? It was meaningless to even think of it.

"I am sorry but it will not be possible for you to attend school here on Coruscant. Your desire to study is admirable but in the circumstances I cannot allow you to go out unattended."

"What if I... sorry" She stopped herself in mid-sentence, realising that she risked contradicting him by continuing with the subject.

"Please continue. I would prefer to hear your suggestions if they are practical."

"I know on some planets provision is made for students who cannot physically attend school, to receive material and hand in assignments via the holonet. I would not have to leave the apartment, but it would enable me to continue my education. It... it might be considered advantageous for a child to have a mother with a reasonable level of education, after all."

He looked at her silently for a long time and she blushed, certain for reasons she could not have put into words that he was all too aware that her final words had been a ploy to encourage him to go along with her wishes. Then he smiled, the first true smile she had seen on his face since they had met, one which lit up his eyes and turned up the corners of his mouth into a crooked line. "Ah, I knew I had managed to find an intelligent young woman as well as a pretty one. Tomorrow you should look into that. If you can find possible routes to allow you to study by that method then I shall make no objection to it as a use of your time. You may also look into whether it is possible to take advanced qualifications by the same method. It would not do for your child to have a mother who lacks education." She blushed deeper at his tacit recognition of the ploy, but inwardly rejoiced. Education had always been something she had valued; it was to have been her route out of the limited opportunities which life had seemed to offer. Now... well now it was scarcely going to be that, but she enjoyed it for its own sake as well.

"I will place one condition though. In addition to your school subjects, I request that you also study introductory texts on child-rearing. You should consider practical application as well as academic subjects for their own sake."

"Of course" she nodded. If her role in life was to be someone's mother, then she would learn how to do it well, and give her child every opportunity to excel in life.

* * *

The next day the doctor came to the house to discuss her fertility. It was an odd experience, having a clinical discussion of a topic of which she knew next to nothing. The doctor seemed equally non-plussed to be talking about it to a patient who had not yet 'taken the necessary practical steps' to cause conception, since he was much more accustomed to providing advice when nature had already failed to take care of the matter despite the couple making vigorous efforts to encourage it.

However he was able to leave her with various leaflets and a holonet cube whose contents she really didn't want to think about, and which she would hesitate to watch since the staff might wander in at any time. He had also explained a simple chart which would allow her to plot her own progress during each month so that they could 'maximise their efforts' on the most likely dates.

She spent most of the discussion blushing fiercely, and wondering how much or how little Lord Vader had explained the situation to the doctor and what he must think of her for it. Once he was gone she retreated to her own suite to read through the leaflets, many of which seemed to provide as much advice for the potential father as for the mother. She had previously been blissfully unaware of the perils of tight underpants and the excessive heat they generated, or of the lifecycle of the male contribution to the genetic mix and the need to ensure its freshness. The leaflets aimed at the potential mother were luckily more focussed on maintaining a healthy weight and having a good diet, as well as making vague but generally encouraging comments about fresh air and exercise and the need to avoid stress. Those aimed at both of them together were the most blush-inducing, focussing on the best positions to try, and exhorting the couple to limit the amount of time spent on other forms of sexual intimacy, providing a staggeringly detailed list of what acts were extremely unlikely to result in pregnancy. Since her school 'health education' classes had failed to cover a fraction of the options she was now being advised to avoid, she was left with a vague feeling that it was all a lot more complicated than she had assumed.

She carefully put the leaflets into a drawer under a pile of her sketches, and resolved to hand the whole lot over to Lord Vader without comment.

* * *

The days passed pleasantly. She had looked into schools and found there was more provision than she would have imagined. Having found one that advertised its ability to provide everything over the holonet, and to give a personalised service to students transferring from other areas, she passed on the information to Lord Vader to complete as her 'legal guardian' and was able to begin her studies without delay. She also ordered a selection of books on pregnancy and caring for young children, and spent time each afternoon focussed on that topic. Lord Vader returned most evenings and they usually dined together. Her 'monthly visitor' made its regular appearance, and she dutifully noted the fact in her chart. Apparently being aware of what was usual and regular for her body would allow her to plan with more precision when the time came.

Then came two nights when Lord Vader was absent. By the evening of the third she was missing his company far more than she would have imagined, and retired to bed hoping that he would return soon.

She was pulled from a deep sleep by a sound from the living room of her suite, and then sat up startled as her bedroom door opened to reveal the tall and broad-shouldered outline of Lord Vader. He stood there watching her for a moment before saying in an odd tone "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

She was shocked. Her birthday was still over a month away, and he had previously sounded completely sincere in his plan to wait until then. She felt completely unprepared for this, and blushed at the thought. But... she was a slave and he was her owner. Refusing was not an option. She nodded silently, not trusting herself to speak.

He closed the door and walked over to the bed where she sat awkwardly, still half-covered by the sheets. The room was lit only by moonlight and the lights of the city, but it was enough to see him by as he sat heavily at the side of the bed and leant to pull off his boots, then slipped out of his shirt, his trousers, his underpants... She hesitated. Was she supposed to undress herself too, or was she meant to wait? She decided to wait until he gave her more specific instructions.

He pulled the sheet up and slid under it, pressing up against her side, then lay there unmoving for long minutes. Finally he said, in that strange tone again "You're not doing it right."

She choked back a flash of anger. How was she supposed to know what he wanted her to do? With an effort she managed to get herself under control again and said mildly "I'm sorry, but I haven't done this before. Perhaps you could show me what you'd like me to do?"

He wriggled up and looked at her. "Oh, of course. My fault. You haven't had any practice. What you do is put your arm here" He moved her right arm under him and wrapped it around his waist. "And this arm here" Her left arm across him and around his shoulder. "Then I put my arm somewhere about here" His right arm settled onto her shoulder. "And then I give you a kiss" A clumsy peck on the cheek. "And you kiss me back and say it will all be all right and I should be a good boy and go to sleep now." She felt very confused, but complied as best she could, kissing him awkwardly on one cheek then saying what he had requested. And then they lay there unmoving.

She felt acutely aware of his body, strong and muscular, pressed tightly against her, and of the slight stubble of his chin on her shoulder, and of the warmth of what was pushed against her hip, which she could feel through the thin fabric of her nightdress. Was this some sort of game? She had heard of people playing games of 'doctor and patient' or 'teacher and student' to add interest to their sex lives, but surely if he wanted something like that he should have explained it to her first? Besides, she was fairly sure that what was pressed against her thigh was... soft. The diagrams on the leaflets, and her classes in school, had been pretty clear about how men's bodies reacted, and there was frankly no way that was going inside anywhere in its current state.

Then there was his odd tone and, as her face rested against his hair, a strangely sweet smoky scent to him. Where had she smelt that before? It was... oh yes, that dingy bar she walked past when she took the shortcut she was supposed to avoid back home. It always smelt like that as she passed, and there were often people sitting in the street outside, or wandering around aimlessly. They were never aggressive or intimidating, even to a teenage girl, though they sometimes spoke to her. They had always said things that were a bit strange, as though they were not dealing with reality. Some of the older boys at school had talked about getting 'spiced' at parties, and it sounded like the same thing. A bit like being drunk, but better, from what they said.

Was that what this was about? Had he smoked some spice and was better-than-drunk?

He stirred against her. "He made me do it. Made me fire on them" he said thickly.

Oh gods, that sounded serious. "Who made you do that, my lord?"

"Anakin"

"Why did Anakin make you do that?"

"Mm, what? No, Anakin. S'me. You should call me Anakin."

"Who made you fire on them, Anakin?"

"Him. Always him. Makes me do things. Bad things. Not allowed to say no. Hate him." He yawned loudly. "Mmm. You feel nice. Soft. Gonna sleep now."

And with that he settled his head back down on her shoulder and fell asleep, his body getting heavier against her as he slept, his breathing slowing, and his hand on her shoulder giving an occasional small twitch.

She lay there trying to calm herself. It was OK. She could deal with it. He was just a bit drunk and cuddly. He had asked about sleeping with her, and that was what he was doing. Sleeping. Just sleeping. She shifted her arms slightly and allowed herself to doze.


	4. Chapter 4

At first Padme only dozed lightly, twitching awake as Anakin moved or muttered in his sleep. But she must have fallen into a deeper sleep eventually, as she was startled out of it by Anakin sitting up abruptly. He looked at her with an expression of utter horror as she blinked back sleepily, saying frantically "Force, Padme, I am so sorry. I never meant for that to happen. How badly did I hurt you? Should I call for a doctor? I... I truly didn't plan to..."

She sat up and took hold of his arms. He might be awake but he wasn't exactly back to normal yet, whatever the reason. "It's all right" She insisted, shaking him gently to get his attention. "You didn't hurt me. You didn't do anything. You just wanted me to hold onto you while you were sleeping. Nothing else."

"I didn't...?" he waved generally at her body.

_Oh gods this nightie's almost see-through_, she thought. "No you didn't... try anything"

He was fetching her robe from the chair and handing it to her, looking away until she was covered up.

"Do you feel a bit better now?" _How do you ask - Were you spiced and do you do that often?_

"Not very often, just... sometimes when things upset me. I'll be all right after a bit more sleep."

_My expression must be so totally obvious, I know I didn't ask out loud_.

"Oh sorry, didn't realise. My head's not really straight yet. The spice makes everything sort of vague and out of focus. But the focus comes back before my control does. There isn't usually anyone around to have to put up with it. Just don't think about anything secret for a while. I'm not deliberately looking, but stuff on the surface... stuff you nearly say...? It's right there." He yawned. "I should head back to my own room and catch a couple more hours. Then I'll be back to normal." He giggled. "Normal. Some chance. Back to usual, anyway. Sorry 'bout looking inside your head. S'rude. I try not to."

"Are you seriously telling me that you can read my thoughts?"

"Mmm? Oh, yeah. But I don't, mostly. That would be rude."

Padme considered the possibility seriously for about thirty seconds, before deciding it was one of those 'not dealing with reality' spice things, and that he was just good at reading expressions and guessing what anyone was likely to be thinking in this situation.

"No, really. It's the Force. Do you know about that? It's in everything and between everything and some people are sensitive to it, and I am, and it means most people's thoughts are pretty easy to read and influence. Other stuff too. I'll show you. Later though, bad idea with my head like this. Honest - here, do you feel that?" She shook her head. "OK how about this?" She shivered; it felt as if a hand had touched the inside of her head somewhere, firmly but gently. "That's me. If I do it lighter again you'll probably feel it now you know what it's like." Another brush against her thoughts, lighter than the last. Then a third. Then a fourth, so light she might have doubted it if Anakin hadn't grinned and nodded at her questioning expression.

"See? Now if I do it, you'll know. But I don't mean to pry in your head, thoughts ought to be private. It's all just too much otherwise." He yawned again. "Sorry. Best get my head down for a bit. Thank you for being nice and not too weirded out."

And with that he picked up his boots and clothes from the floor and headed out of the room. For a moment his whole body was bathed in a shaft of early sunlight from the window. _Wow, he looks good naked_. Padme blushed, catching herself in the thought. Was he still able to hear her? A brush against her thoughts made that a definite yes. Somehow the contact managed to convey both amusement and pleasure in just that brief contact.

Padme settled back down in bed to try to get a bit more sleep herself. That had to be one of the oddest nights of her life, though not for the reasons she had first thought it was going to be. She didn't doubt him; he had some strange ability to read her thoughts. And, if the rest of what he had said was true, to influence them, which was even more worrying. But he had been clear enough that he didn't plan to do either of those things normally. And what had he meant about the Force? She had heard of it, but only vaguely. It was part of the banned Jedi religion. But surely it was just a spiritual concept, just another variation on the whole 'soul/spirit/life force/interconnectedness of all things' that many religions preached? He had spoken as if it were a genuine thing, something which could actually affect real life, rather than an analogy which taught important truths wrapped up in a pretty story.

She closed her eyes and yawned. Hopefully he would be prepared to talk about it tomorrow, and she would find out whether he did believe in it. There had been rumours that he was an ex-Jedi after all. Perhaps he had picked up parts of their teaching and used them as an explanation for something which science did not yet have an answer to.

* * *

She rose late the next morning, and then settled down to her academic studies. If she hoped to take her qualifications at the standard time then she needed to be focussed and catch up on what she had missed during the past weeks. She was engrossed in a chemistry lesson on the holonet when the door unexpectedly opened and Mark showed in an elderly man leaning heavily on a stick, rather stammeringly explaining that Lord Vader was not at home. Padme looked on in shock as she belatedly recognised Emperor Palpatine and stood up nervously. Should she bow? Curtsey? Kneel? Her experience of Imperial protocol so far had been a few holonet news articles showing fancy ceremonies at the Palace, which gave no clues what you were supposed to do if the Emperor turned up in your living room without warning.

Though perhaps she shouldn't be surprised. Lord Vader was his second in command. Why shouldn't he come to the house if he wanted to?

She settled for bobbing down in what she hoped would pass as a curtsey, only to hear an amused voice saying "How charming! Oh you don't need to stand on ceremony for me, my dear. I just thought that I would stop by. Perhaps a cup of tea...?" Mark bowed low "At once, your majesty" and left the room backwards. Padme fiddled nervously with the hem of her top. What were you supposed to do? "Would... would you like to sit down, your majesty?" She gestured vaguely at the comfortable seats by the window, and sat down after he had done so.

He continued to smile disarmingly at her, but she couldn't help thinking that he had not got to be Supreme Chancellor and then Emperor by being a charming old man, and wondered just why he was here. After all, he would presumably know where Lord Vader was, or would at least check he was home before stopping by unannounced. Which meant he was here quite deliberately to see her, in Lord Vader's absence. Though... she frowned and looked at the door. Surely that was Anakin nearby? The fleeting sense of his presence faded. It must have been her imagination.

"I do hope I am not disturbing your studies, my dear? You made quite the picture of the dedicated young schoolgirl sitting there." She blushed. Schoolgirl might be true but it wasn't exactly the impression she would hope to give to someone she met for the first time, especially in these circumstances.

"I must confess I was somewhat... taken aback... by quite how young you are. Though of course Anakin is scarcely more than a child himself in many ways, so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised at the attraction. But I do hope... no, it's not my place to say anything. You are old enough to know your own mind I am sure, and won't thank an old man for interfering in your personal affairs."

"Oh, um, it's all right. You've known Anakin for much longer. And he works for you, so of course you have an opinion..." she trailed off, not quite sure what she was saying or why, beyond trying to reassure him that she didn't intend to be rude about him showing an interest.

He looked at her shrewdly for a moment before continuing. "Anakin... can be a lovely boy. And of course he's a dashing young man, tall and handsome. I can quite see the appeal. But... well, he is so very young, not just in years but in his outlook on life. I had hoped, when I adopted him, that he might settle down a little more, once he got over the loss of his dear mother of course. But he is not so very different now from how he was then. Impetuous is hardly the word. His attention span... well, I don't think I ever saw him pay attention to his lessons the way you are obviously capable of! They do say that young women are naturally the more mature of the sexes. Perhaps he will surprise me some day. But... well, I feel it would be unkind of me not to warn you to be careful of giving your heart too quickly. No matter how besotted he may be today, I'm afraid that tomorrow may bring some new fascination to tempt him and you may find yourself feeling... well let us say a little let down."

Padme blushed in confusion. He seemed to be assuming that the situation was quite different from reality. Had Anakin not spoken to him? Should she say something? No. Anakin was temperamental at best. If he hadn't chosen to tell his... adopted father?... that he planned to impregnate a young woman, then it wasn't her place to set the cat among the pigeons.

He was continuing again "Well, I'm sure you don't want an old man telling you what you should do. But, if you should ever feel the need of a friend, I do hope that you will think of me. If you call the Palace, or even just come there, I will make sure that you are welcomed and given any help or support that you might need. You will remember that, won't you? That you are not alone in the world?"

She nodded gratefully. He seemed so very sweet and kind. If Anakin lost interest in her, now or later, then it was good to know there was at least one person she could contact for assistance.

They chatted a little longer, and drank the tea that Mrs Bridges brought on a silver tray, and then the Emperor took his leave and Padme was left to her thoughts.

* * *

When Lord Vader returned later, he found her sitting gazing out of the window. He stamped around the room, muttering under his breath about it not being fair. Padme had to admit that the Emperor's assessment of him as immature was an accurate one. He was the very epitome of a sulky teenager at the moment. And, on last night's evidence, prone to bouts of other adolescent behaviour as well. What if he lost interest in her as quickly as the Emperor seemed to think likely? A pregnancy lasted nine months. That was plenty of time in which to get bored of waiting for anything. He might be fed up with the whole idea of a child before it was even born. The Emperor's promise to be a friend to her if she needed one took on an extra significance, which he surely had not intended when he said it. But the fact remained that it might be the baby's adopted grandfather who was the one to support and raise it, while its biological father might be in and out of its life on a whim whenever he found it entertaining, rather than a stable long-term influence.

He had finally stopped pacing around and sat down heavily opposite her. "So. Did you promise to hand over the baby as soon as it's born? Or just to let him train it when it's old enough?"

Padme looked at him in some confusion. "We didn't talk about babies at all. I don't think he even knows that's what you're planning, does he?"

"Of course he does. I can't breathe out of turn without him knowing all about it."

That sounded frankly paranoid, and Padme recalled other comments about the Emperor and how 'controlling' he was.

"Well, he didn't mention babies or pregnancy. And neither did I. He seemed to think I was... your girlfriend. He was more worried that I might fall in love with you and get my heart broken, to be honest. I don't think he knows anything about the rest of it. How could he, if you haven't told him?"

"He doesn't worry about being rude."

"Pardon?" _What had that to do with anything?_

"I told you. I don't look at your thoughts because it's rude. He didn't get to be Emperor by letting little moral qualms like that get in the way of what he wants."

"You're suggesting that he can read people's thoughts too? Like you did last night?"

"Exactly"

"And how would he do that?" Padme was starting to get quite worried about Anakin. It was bad enough for him to believe that he could read her thoughts - her conviction that he had managed it last night had faded with the dawn. It just wasn't something that people could do. And it wasn't something that sane people believed in. It certainly wasn't something that sane people went around accusing other people of doing. Which left a fairly major question over whether temperamental, impetuous, immature Anakin was playing with a full deck. And what the implications for her might be if he was not.

He was frowning at her now. "I could convince you if I wanted to. But I promised myself that I would never do that to anyone I cared about, and never about anything important. It's different when it's military, that's justified. This wouldn't be." He drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair and looked around the room. "OK. So this was the room where he was? He came in, you were at the desk, studying. You stood up and you both sat over here and drank tea?"

She nodded, as he got up and prowled around the room.

"Have you moved things since he was here?"

"No. I couldn't concentrate, so I just turned off the holonet and sat here. I've been looking at the garden and thinking."

"And nobody would have come in to tidy the room while you were here?"

She shook her head. He was standing by the door now, looking around, and then suddenly grinned. "Come here and look"

She walked across to the door, unsure what he was thinking, and then followed the direction of his gaze. On the desk directly beside where she had been sitting was a stack of books she had planned to read later. They were all about pregnancy and babies. Even if the Emperor's eyesight wasn't perfect, the huge grinning baby on the cover of the top one would have been a clear indication of the contents. Padme frowned. The Emperor had made no comment, had deliberately talked in ways which didn't mention pregnancy. Of course he could just have been politely ignoring it. But why give her warnings about getting her heart broken when he could have given a much starker warning about the perils of going into a pregnancy with a man who lacked emotional maturity? Most adults, in her experience at least, were quick to point out that pregnancy was something to be planned very carefully, and were keen to warn young women not to let their hearts (or any other part of their anatomy) over-rule their head in such matters. Most of the 'health education' classes were focussed on avoiding getting pregnant, avoiding getting others pregnant, waiting till you were 'older', and so on. So why not say something?

"Whether he read your thoughts or not, he had some idea we were thinking about having a child. Now do you at least accept that maybe he isn't always 100% truthful?"

Padme nodded. That much at least she could agree to.

"What else did he seem to think? Or suggest?"

Padme thought about it, and then said slowly "He seemed not to know about my status. But he must have seen this." She waved her arm with its security bracelet. "He must have seen it before, or known about it. You said the girl before was an Imperial prisoner? So, he saw her, yes? Wearing this. He knew what it was. He knew I was a slave. So why talk about me going to the Palace if I wanted his help?" The more she thought about it, the odder it seemed. He had been persuasive, leading her to believe that he thought her some chance girlfriend that Anakin had picked up, who might be naive enough to fall in love and then be heart-broken when he lost interest. But he had known she was a slave, and that Anakin was planning to get her pregnant. She could hardly have bought the books for herself without Anakin's agreement, so the plan must be his rather than hers.

"He wanted me to think he would be my friend, if I needed one, if you lost interest in me. And... he wanted me to think you wouldn't be a very reliable father. So... I guess you were right. He wanted me to come to him, when I was pregnant or after the baby arrived. To let him help me. Why does he want that? Would he want me to get rid of the baby? But you said... you're not allowed to say no if he tells you to do things. So, he could order you not to do this, couldn't he?" Anakin nodded silently. "So he isn't stopping us from having a baby. He wants us to carry on and have it, and then for me to go to him for help when you turn out not to be interested, or if I get worried about something."

"I always knew you were intelligent as well as pretty." His voice sounded genuinely admiring. "Now do you see why he is so dangerous?"

She nodded. "But... why bother being persuasive? From what you said he could just... make me think things, or do things, for no reason at all..." Against her better judgement, she was starting to believe what Anakin had told her. Then she frowned, remembering something. "Were you here, earlier? In the corridor, or the garden?" He shook his head. "I could have sworn..."

"You felt something? Like last night?"

She nodded. "Yes, like that. Just for a moment. And I thought it must be you, coming back. I looked up at the door thinking you must be just outside. But then it faded and you weren't there. I thought I had just imagined it."

"That was him" Anakin said soberly. "He could have read everything out of your mind directly, though I guess he didn't have to. We haven't exactly made it hard for him to know what we're planning. But he had to be more subtle, not knowing how much I might have already trained you to block him, or at least to make sure his influence was clearly visible to me."

She frowned again "You could teach me to stop that?"

"To some extent. I think you have the capacity for that at least. Many people do, though they usually never realise it."

"Please do. I hate the idea of him wandering around inside my head. He was good enough at manipulating me without that. I really thought he was worried about a young woman having her heart broken, and wanted to be a friend to me when it happened. What is he really after?"

Anakin looked very sober. "He wants to be the one to raise the child. Or at least to have a major influence on its life from an early age. He didn't manage it with me. I was nine when he found me. The Jedi used to train children from two or three, and he was in favour of that. He thought that was the best way to be sure of their loyalty, because they were too young to have learned to be loyal to anyone else. So he wants to have that chance with another child, another Force-sensitive. He can't father a child himself, and he has had no success from cloning, so it has to be an ordinary pregnancy and an ordinary baby."

Padme felt a chill. "Anakin... why do _you_ want to have a child? Is that what this is about for you too? Wanting someone to train, to mould? Because that's... that's not a good reason for bringing a child into the world. You should want them for their own sake, not for what you can turn them into."

His expression grew very distant and cold. "Why I want a child is none of your concern. You are here because it suits me to conceive a child with you. My reasons are irrelevant. When your birthday has passed, I will get you pregnant. Until then you should focus on your studies so that you are ready for the responsibility I am giving you." And with that he turned and walked out of the room without another word.

Padme stood gazing unseeing towards the garden. She wasn't sure either of them was a good person to raise a child.


	5. Chapter 5

Padme had assumed that Anakin would choose to forget his comments about teaching her to block any reading of her thoughts, or influencing of them. But within a few days he was teaching her all about the Force, this mysterious energy that was supposedly within all living things and bound them to each other. She could not help but be sceptical - science had identified and described (if not always perfectly explained) all kinds of energy fields, but there was no evidence of this Force. Anakin's assurance that it could only be experienced by living beings and not by inanimate sensors frankly sounded like the favoured 'get out clause' of many belief systems - those who experienced religious faith could not be shaken from their belief, those who did not feel it themselves found it incomprehensible.

But, faith aside, Anakin was managing to show her his ability to read her thoughts, teaching her how to recognise when he was doing it, and starting to show her how to develop a method for blocking it. She was worried that the fact that she was able to block such an ability might actually be more risky for her, but Anakin assured her that some individuals developed such blocks instinctively without any training, so it would not single her out. Besides, there were very few true Force sensitive individuals now, since the Jedi Order had conspired to overthrow the government in the early days of the Empire and been outlawed.

Anakin was sometimes prepared to talk about the Jedi, and sometimes refused to mention them. Likewise the Emperor and their history together - Padme gradually pieced together the story of how Chancellor Palpatine had befriended Anakin and his mother, how he had promised to have the boy trained to use the Force, her insistence that he joined the Jedi Order, her sudden illness and death, his adoption, his training - outside the Jedi Order for reasons that Padme could not quite follow, and through it all Palpatine's rise to power.

At times Anakin sounded grateful to the Emperor, and happy to do his bidding, believing that he was improving the Empire for all its loyal subjects by rooting out separatists and other damaging factions. At others, he seemed to hate and despise Palpatine, blaming him for his mother's death, accusing him of using issues like the separatist problem to mask his own political agenda, and of ordering Anakin to cause the deaths of those who were a threat to his power.

Padme was unsure what to believe, or even what Anakin himself believed, it varied so from one day to another. She was getting better at judging his moods, she thought, but he could still switch from one to another with little warning.

The Emperor had not visited again. She wasn't sure what to make of that, and decided not to ask Anakin if they had spoken about her since. It was still hard to know whether the manipulative Emperor would be a better person to help raise a child than the mercurial Lord Vader, who could be lovely and charming at one moment and cold as ice the next. Still, the question was academic for now. Her birthday was still three weeks away, and her chart showed she would be at her most fertile a few days later, which meant that in theory she could be pregnant within a month. But all of the advice she had seen was that there was no reason to be surprised if it took six months or even a year, so there was no need to start trying to make impossible decisions yet. By the time there was a child to consider, the whole business might have become far clearer anyway.

* * *

Lord Vader was to be away for two or three days, on a military mission. He seemed out of sorts, walking in and out of rooms for no apparent reason, picking things up and putting them down. Padme gave up trying to study or read. He was apologetic when he noticed, but his mood didn't change, and he was still unusually fidgety as he left.

Padme should have been able to focus on her studies once he had set off, but his mood had been infectious and she felt worried about him. Part of her had obviously picked up on his strange beliefs about a Force which linked them, as she had a lingering feeling that there was something seriously wrong. But her more sensible side quashed that idea - of course she felt there was something wrong, he had been stressed and irritable when he left and she had picked up on that. She was also, quite probably, worried that he was going into an intense and pressured situation in a frame of mind that would not help him to concentrate, increasing the risks far beyond what they would be anyway.

Whatever the reasons, it was no great surprise to her when her bedroom door opened on the third evening and he staggered in, sat down heavily on the bed, then leaned over and sobbed uncontrollably into her chest. The smell of spice smoke was stronger than the last time, doubtless through his clothes as well as on his skin and hair. She held him tight, stroked his hair, murmured nonsense about everything being all right, despite the fact that it quite obviously wasn't. After a while the sobbing subsided and his breathing slowed. With a bit of careful wriggling she got herself into a position where she could both sleep and keep a hold of him, since that was clearly what he needed when he was in this condition. She lay there wondering what had happened this time. Had he been ordered to kill someone again? Had he wanted to disobey? Was it just that he hated the idea of killing, or did he genuinely believe that Palpatine was giving him immoral orders for political reasons?

And just who did he believe she was when he was like this? He showed no signs of any sexual interest in her, not that he did when sober either. He wanted her to behave like a mother to a small child, with hugs and kisses, assurances that everything would be all right, telling him to be a good boy and go to sleep, comforting him when he cried. Did his muddled brain mix her up with his lost mother? He had only been nine or ten when she died, a sudden tragic illness taking her from him within a few days, leaving him alone and orphaned. Except of course that Palpatine had then adopted him. Had Palpatine and his mother been lovers? That might explain at least some of his confused feelings towards the Emperor, flicking between loyalty and hatred. His biological father was never mentioned, it had just been him and his mother for years. And then Palpatine had come onto the scene. Did he feel the older man had stolen his mother from him? Replaced him in her affections? He certainly blamed the Emperor for anything and everything when he was in certain moods, though he seemed genuinely grateful for the man's training and concern the rest of the time.

He was a very mixed-up young man, even without the effects of illegal substances.

* * *

He left her room early the next morning without any explanation of what had happened, and it was only as she watched the holonet news later that morning that she had any idea of the magnitude of what he had been going through. The news hailed it as another tremendous victory, with a large part of the separatist fleet and their main base having been destroyed, and showed footage of Lord Vader smiling and waving at a crowd of well-wishers waving banners and placards with slogans on, and holding up small children to see the conquering hero. Padme watched it through three times before concluding that it had been 'stitched together' from other footage, and that he had not in fact done any such thing on his return from the battle. Most likely he had headed straight to wherever he could get his hands on enough spice sticks to make the thoughts and feelings fade down to bearable. And then he had cried like a baby in her arms until overcome by exhaustion.

Whether the order had been motivated by genuine need or by politics and a desire for power, Anakin could not go on this way. If that meant he had to give up his position, then surely that was worth it to live without so many deaths on his conscience? He had talked about the Force enough for her to know that he believed killing was wrong - even when it could not be avoided it was still to be regretted. He could not go on killing without being more and more damaged by it. She needed to sit him down and talk to him about it as soon as possible, whatever mood he was in.

* * *

Unfortunately he was not in a mood to listen. He hated the Emperor, he hated the Empire, he hated his life. He hated the separatists, he hated killing them, he hated the fact that they killed others. He hated... everything and everyone, it seemed. Himself perhaps most of all.

* * *

As the days passed he returned to more like his normal mood, though still subdued. Padme decided to take a risk and try to talk to him again.

"You told me once that every death causes a ripple in the Force. I assume that a lot of deaths cause a larger ripple?" He nodded. "And sudden violent deaths more than quiet expected deaths in old age?" Another nod. "So it hurts you, having to do that?" Another nod. "Does he know that?" 'He' was always the Emperor; she had learned that early on. "Can't you... say it's too much? That you can't do it any more? Surely there are plenty of other people who could lead these missions?"

"Not people he would trust. He barely trusts me."

"But surely if he knows it is harming you...?"

Anakin gave a derisive snort. "He doesn't care about that. I'm a tool to use, nothing more. He trained me to serve him. I can serve or I can be killed, I can't quit, can't refuse, can't walk away." He must have picked up Padme's uncertainty over whether to believe this latest paranoid rant, because he continued "Do you still think he's some benevolent ruler? Pushed into a position of power by the 'emergency' with the separatists? Forced to take control for the good of all his subjects? It's a pose, nothing more. The whole emergency was his doing, and he keeps it going to maintain his power. This latest glorious victory? They would never have massed in one place in such numbers if Palpatine hadn't convinced them that they needed a big victory to keep up the momentum. That's what he does, you see. He has secret contacts within their organisation, though obviously they don't know who their 'high ranking Imperial source' actually is. He manipulates them into what he wants; sometimes guerrilla tactics so that they make many small raids and disrupt commerce, sometimes a big attack so that they can be crushed. They grow to a certain size and then he has me cut them back down. The uncertainty keeps him in power."

"But... but they are the enemy. They attack homes and hospitals, kill innocent civilians. All in the name of 'freedom'. Everybody knows that..." Her voice trailed off... what everybody knew was what the media told them, and the media said what the Palace had instructed them to say. That was for the public good, of course. Information had to be controlled...

She looked at Anakin, seeing the political edifice in all its intricacies for the first time. The ongoing struggle with the separatists meant that Palpatine's 'emergency powers' were voted through again and again at every assembly where the subject came up. Recently there had been a motion to increase the time for which each renewal would be made - after all there was no need to debate the topic every six months (And hadn't it been every three months at first?) when the situation had proved to be so intractable. The motion to increase to a yearly renewal was due to be heard soon, and would almost certainly be passed. How long before they increased it again? Or even decided just to make it 'until the situation is resolved', as some senators had already suggested?

"They... they attacked a refugee ship... He... he told them to do that?" Anakin nodded grimly. "But... so many children... there were pictures... I couldn't sleep for weeks. I... oh God..." she ran out to the corridor and into the 'fresher, making it just in time to lose her breakfast at the memory of the terrible images from the holonews. They had warned viewers that the images might be 'distressing', but that had barely been an adequate word for the horrors they had shown, even with some partially obscured to highlight the fact that there was worse that they weren't showing.

Padme had felt nauseous for the rest of the day, and barely picked at her meals, the holonews images replaying in her mind whenever she was not fully focussed on something else. She and Anakin had talked a little more, once her stomach had settled, and she knew now just how much he hated and feared the Emperor. He called himself a coward for not standing up to the man, but in the same breath told of how powerful the Emperor was in using the Force for his own ends. He could call up lightning and cause terrible pain at a whim, could torture a body almost to breaking point but keep his victim conscious, could take control of another's body and make it comply, and pull every thought from a mind. Padme was sceptical at first, but Anakin demonstrated some of the things which he could do himself, moving objects, reading screens or books through her eyes, crushing plants stem by stem, and it became all too easy to imagine how those abilities could be used to cause pain and gain power over others.

She was subdued and exhausted by the time she headed to bed that evening, but sleep would not come. Typically, having barely been able to face food all day, her stomach now complained about the lack when she tried to settle to sleep. After tossing and turning for an hour, she gave up, put on her gown, and went through to where she knew the kitchen was in the hope of finding something straightforward to quieten her growling stomach.

A quick look found her some fruit salad she had turned down earlier, and she helped herself to a bowlful while wandering idly around the kitchen taking the chance to sneak a look in various cupboards. Amazingly there was an entire shelf full of pickles and condiments, and she found herself wondering if they kept a stock of the pickled gherkins her own planet produced for export. She was checking out the jars at the back of the shelf when the door opened and the young woman who helped Mrs Bridges (Emily, that was the name) came in and looked at her with wide disbelieving eyes. Padme stammered an apology and found herself explaining in detail about the gherkins she had been looking for. Apparently, no they didn't keep a supply of those particular pickles, but Emily would be happy to ask Mrs Bridges to get some for her if they were a special favourite. Padme thanked her blushingly, finished the last of her fruit salad - she had saved the strawberries until the end as always - and left the kitchen as quickly as she could manage with any pretence at politeness.

The poor girl must think she was insane, chatting about pickles at this time of night!


	6. Chapter 6

The next day, Anakin was out by the time Padme came out of her room, and there was a message to say that he would not be back until dinnertime, so she focussed on her studies and tried not think about politics. Emily brought her a tray of tea in the afternoon and she drank it absent-mindedly while working at her algebra, and then found herself yawning. She gazed blankly at the screen, trying to get the characters to make sense, and stifling an urge to just shut her eyes and give up on the whole thing. Last night's lack of sleep must be catching up on her, she thought vaguely, as she let her eyelids close. Just a few minutes and she'd get started again...

She blinked at the brightness of the lights when she opened her eyes, then looked around her in confusion. She was lying on a hospital bed in some sort of medical facility, and... she felt increasingly panicky as she fought to move her arms and legs, and failed. Pushing down the irrational fear, she convinced herself that there was a perfectly good explanation for what had happened. She had... oh yes she must have fainted. Lack of sleep and food had left her feeling a bit weak and woozy and she had fainted while she sat at the desk. The staff must have been worried and called an ambulance, and now she was at a hospital. They'd be checking if she was all right before they gave her a lecture about eating properly and sent her home. Not a problem. A nurse would be back in a minute.

They must have put something around her legs and arms to keep her steady. Maybe she was still on a stretcher? She wouldn't have stayed out for long, she was sure. So it was a stretcher which they had put on top of the bed, while they... her imagination hit a dead end here, not having been much in hospitals. But they would be back very soon, that much was certain.

Long minutes passed, and she tried again to move her limbs, or her head. With an effort she managed to lift that up off the surface enough to look along her body. There were straps around her wrists and ankles, holding her down securely on the bed, still fully-clothed thankfully. She felt irritated. Wouldn't it be more sensible to have a person stay with her if they were worried she would fall out? She decided she ought to shout out and get their attention, and shouted "Excuse me!", or rather tried to, but her voice managed only a weak croak that was unlikely to have carried outside the room. She lifted her head again, as far as she could, and looked around. It was a very... scientific-looking hospital room, with an assortment of monitors and machinery she didn't recognise, but no other beds and none of the curtained sections she would have expected to go around individual patients. Was she going to have an operation then? It looked more like what she would expect of an operating theatre than an examination room. Was she terribly sick and hadn't realised it? That might explain why they were focussed on sorting out what needed to be done, rather than chatting to her about healthy eating.

Finally the door opened, and she lifted her head with difficulty again to turn and look at the medical staff. Except... what she actually saw was Emperor Palpatine, walking towards her using his stick for support, and giving her a smile that chilled her blood.

He walked right up to the bed she was on and smiled down at her, saying "No curtsey for your Emperor today then? Oh well, I shall forgive you in the circumstances." She struggled to move, then to speak - "Why...arms... legs?"

"We wouldn't want you jumping around and damaging anything important now, would we? The drug will wear off a little soon, and you'll be able to speak more easily. No shouting or screaming though. After that we'll keep it nice and steady so you'll not give the doctor any trouble while he looks after you. He's not used to his patients wriggling around, so you'll have to forgive his lack of bedside manner."

Padme frowned. She felt fine, apart from whatever was stopping her from moving and talking properly. "What... wrong... me?" she tried.

"Wrong? Oh nothing in the least bit wrong. And if you had been just a tiny bit more biddable I would have let you go on for a few months and saved the doctor a lot of bother. But you just wouldn't listen would you? Anakin had already taught you to distrust me, and to recognise any attempt to read or influence your thoughts, so I had to bring the plan forward. Oh and while we're on the subject of Anakin, don't waste any of your valuable energy trying to contact him through that pathetic little excuse for a link of yours. What's inside you now is Force-strong and will produce far too much interference for you to talk to him. If that wasn't the case I would hardly have dared bring you in at this stage."

"Inside me?" Padme felt nauseous at the thought. Had they put something inside her body while she was unconscious?

"Yes. A Force-strong foetus affects its mother from conception. And any child that Anakin fathered is certain to be Force-strong" He smiled maliciously. "In fact I'm very much counting on it."

Padme was confused, her thoughts seemed to be dulled and slowed by whatever she had been given. It sounded as if Palpatine thought she was pregnant with Anakin's child. Had they... done that medically somehow? Or did he think...?

"Not sixteen... wait... birthday"

He laughed out loud at that. "Still clinging to that piece of fiction? The moralistic Anakin, waiting until you turn sixteen before climbing into your bed? Please! For one thing, I know Anakin, and he hasn't waited two months for anything in his entire life. Then there's the fact that he's been seen going to your room late at night, and leaving many hours later, with everything swinging in the cooling breeze... Of course, I couldn't just assume he had been successful - even with two healthy young specimens like yourselves going at it like rabbits there are no guarantees, and I was prepared to wait until you had done a test, told Anakin the happy news... but then, out of the blue, you have morning sickness and a craving for strawberries with pickled gherkins! You have made me a very happy man, my dear. And if Anakin doesn't even know about the expected event, then so much the better."

"Anakin... look for me..."

"Oh I very much doubt that he will. He will find messages on your holonet account showing the efforts you have been making to find your father, and the broken security bracelet - snapped off and lying in the kitchen I believe - and conclude that you have chosen to leave him. And, since you can't contact him to let him know otherwise, because of what you are growing for me in there, we can proceed without any interference from him."

Padme almost told him that she was not pregnant, that he was wrong about Anakin's lack of patience, but connections finally snapped into place in her brain. He thought she had a link to Anakin and would have been able to contact him if she was not pregnant. So... if she convinced him she wasn't pregnant, he would have to take other steps to stop her contacting Anakin - keeping her unconscious maybe, or just killing her. Not that she knew for sure if she could contact him anyway, but at least this way she might have a chance. She focussed a part of her thoughts on Anakin, on what it felt like when he touched her thoughts, and tried to sort of 'call out' to him, while keeping Palpatine talking. She had to know what this was about, what he planned, so that she could guess what he would do when the doctor got around to the test and the results showed there was no pregnancy.

"Why... want child? Train him?"

The laugh this time was practically a giggle. He was sounding less sane with every passing minute. "Oh, what a dear naive child Anakin is. When he realised how keen I was for him to father a child, back when he hit puberty, he thought it through all by himself, and concluded that it was connected to my complaints about his lack of ability, and not having started his training early enough. Therefore obviously I wanted a child I could raise almost from birth, as a replacement for him. He always had a low opinion of his abilities. Helped by me of course, it wouldn't do for him to realise just how much he is capable of." He broke off for a moment. "By rights I shouldn't be telling you any of this; it is terribly foolish to gloat ahead of ones plans reaching full fruition. And yet... it feels so good to tell someone just how clever I have been. You will have no-one to talk to, after all, and the idea that you will lie here for four months thinking about it and regretting your situation is such a thrill. I do love knowing that someone is aware of their terrible fate and yet unable to do anything to avoid it." He sighed in obvious pleasure at that, and then seemed lost in his thoughts and uncertain about continuing his explanation.

Padme thought back to what he had just said and queried "Four months? Nine..."

He looked up, startled to be pulled out of his reverie. "Oh it would take nine months for the conclusion you would want, but only four months for my purposes." He looked at her oddly. "Haven't I told you enough to piece it together yet? I had thought you were quite bright, but apparently not... I am an old man, older even than I look. I do not want a child to train and raise as an heir. I want to continue with life and health for as long as possible, so that I have no need of an heir. My doctor here has been very successful in devising a treatment which ensures exactly that, but the foetuses he has utilised so far have not had any ability in the Force. At first the effect was minor, just a slight reduction in my powers, but the cumulative effect is increasingly serious. Even if no-one else becomes aware of it, sooner or later Anakin will realise that the invincibility I have claimed since I have known him is a hollow sham, and he will act. He has no idea how easily he could kill me, still believes I have the strength he first encountered as a child, and still believes his own power is minimal in comparison. He has no idea the efforts I had to make to convince him of that." He smiled maliciously. "He is still such a child, quaking in his boots at the merest threat."

"You would... kill my baby?"

"Look around you - does this look as though it were designed with the welfare of a newborn in mind? Or for the care of a pregnant woman? In the past the doctor has simply picked out a suitable 'donor' and arranged for them to be brought here for 'tests'. Neither survives the procedure, and the doctor has a supply of cells to convert for my treatment. You will be the eighth woman to provide me with what I need to continue a long and vigorous life, and the first to strengthen me in the Force in the process. Actually you will be the ninth woman to be given the opportunity, but the first... well we didn't have things set up quite so well. Fortunately I was able to modify her memory so that she had no idea what she was running from, so when I finally tracked her down she did not remember me. And now we have come full circle - the one that got away has fathered the one that will restore my strength."

"Got away?"

"Do I need to use smaller words?" He sounded petulant that his gloating required any additional explanation. "Anakin's mother realised too soon that her antenatal checks were nothing of the kind, and left the building unexpectedly. I chased after her, and was able to feel her through the Force, but could not convince her to return. I could only damage her memories of recent events, though she was left fearful and sure she had to run and hide. She ended up a slave on a dustball of a planet, convinced until her dying day that she had conceived a child without any father. I found them when Anakin was nine, his ability in the Force shone out to me as he developed. His father must have been some Jedi, I am sure of it, though she had no memories even vaguely connected with the baby until after her escape so it was impossible to find out more. I befriended them, but she was still not entirely trustful, so I had to arrange an illness for her so that I could reclaim Anakin. And then I started trying to convince him that he wanted to father a child. Foolishly I had ensured that all the Jedi were killed off, making it almost impossible for me to get a Force-strong foetus unless he provided one for me. I tried artificial insemination of course, once he reached puberty. He has no idea how many samples were taken that first year or so, but none of them were any use. It seems the Force has all kinds of unexpected effects on conception, so he had to do the deed willingly and with the intention of creating a child, nothing less would do. He still has some confusing memories of those years, though he thinks they were all just dreams, but whatever his body could be persuaded to do, it lacked the will required to result in pregnancy. I had almost given up when he bought himself a slave girl to impregnate, without any further prompting from me, and here we are!"

"You're a monster!"

"Oh, if you look through most of history's great leaders you'll find they would be labelled as a monster by ordinary people if they knew everything about their lives. The trick is to make sure your subjects don't find out about the lengths you are prepared to go to. Most people would rather believe you are just like them, just as concerned about the petty little things in life, just as limited by moralistic arguments about what is 'right' and 'wrong'. They prefer not to recognise that you are better than them, your life more important, more valuable. A handful of unborn children and their mothers, not even missed by society, so that I can continue to rule them? Not important in the slightest."

Padme's blood ran cold at the thought of what this... she could hardly bear to call him a 'man', and to say 'animal' was an insult to animals... what he was prepared to do just to extend his own life and power. She felt sick at the thought of what he had done to Anakin's mother, to other young women, and what he would do to her if she had indeed been pregnant. And, of course, what he would do to her when he found that she was not... he would kill her at once, the only question whether it would be quick and efficient or slow and painful.

A flicker of reassurance passed through her thoughts. That was odd. Why was she so sure that he was not going to kill her? Then another flicker, a brush of thought against thought, and she suppressed an urge to smile. Better to look scared and sickened, and keep him talking.

"What next? No more... no more Jedi?"

"Oh, Anakin's urge to procreate isn't going to go away just because you have run off and left him. Perhaps he'll buy another slave to replace you. I'll make sure he's less busy next time around; give him plenty of time off so that he can give her all of his attention. I've felt quite guilty taking him away from you for missions, but they were already planned and I could hardly have him wondering why I cancelled anything that took him away from your bed, now could I? Or, if he is wary of another slave, I'll let him have his pick of the Palace concubines. Several of them have already borne children, so he can be sure they are fertile. And they are reasonably loyal, especially when they have other children to think about. Maybe I'll suggest Emily's mother or Emily herself if he wants someone younger and untouched. Oh yes, Emily has always answered to me, my dear, I have ways of making her mother's life very unpleasant. Yes the more I think about it the better I like that... she can comfort him while he gets over your leaving. And when he starts to think about fathering a child again, well his enthusiastic little bed-mate would be the obvious choice. I'm sure with a little effort; the doctor would be able to leave her unharmed so that they can try again once she gets over her sad loss. You see, my dear, I have no doubts that I can prompt your Anakin to produce what I need on a reasonably frequent basis. He is a foolish child, and can be guided in whatever direction I choose."

Padme focussed on keeping a suitable expression. Fear and disgust did not take much acting skill; it was only a matter of suppressing the growing optimism as the sense of Anakin's presence grew in her mind. She did not dare risk looking relieved. She cast around for another question, another topic to keep Palpatine here and distracted, then a sudden sense of closeness and warning blossomed in her mind just as the door to the room flew open and Anakin burst through it, wielding his light saber. His other hand flew up in a gesture and Palpatine was thrown across the room towards him and away from Padme, while the straps around her wrists and ankles came free. She sat up awkwardly, unsure if she could stand let alone run, but ready to try if there was a need.

But Anakin had Palpatine utterly in his power, writhing and gasping for breath, his face bloated and purple, as thought the life was being choked out of him without Anakin having to lay a hand on him. Anakin didn't speak, though Padme wondered if he was 'talking' to Palpatine inside his head, exulting at having confounded expectations by allowing his sense of morality to overpower his usual impatience. The tableau was fixed in her mind indelibly, though it only lasted a few minutes until Palpatine hung in the air like a puppet and was then dropped unceremoniously to the floor.

Then Anakin was at her side, checking her pulse, her eyes, asking if she was all right. She nodded wordlessly, though she found she was shaking now that the adrenaline was wearing off. He half-carried her out of there, along a corridor, up an elevator, and into a small parking area with a speeder. Within a few moments, he had programmed it, assuring her it would take her straight back to the apartment, where Mark was awaiting her. She was to go in and wait. Everything would be all right. She smiled a little at the assurance; normally it was her job to tell him that, even when she had no way of knowing if it was true. But this time she was sure he meant it, he brushed her thoughts with his own, conveying reassurance and concern, before sending her off in the speeder.

* * *

The next few days were surreal, with Anakin in and out of the apartment at all hours. Emily had been sent away, though Anakin reassured Padme that he didn't blame anyone for trying to protect their mother from harm and that she wouldn't be punished for her part in what had happened. In an odd way, her involvement had worked in their favour - her honest assurance that Padme was suffering from morning sickness and early-pregnancy cravings had pushed Palpatine to make his move too early. If he had waited until she was actually pregnant, she might not have been able to contact Anakin to show him what was happening. Anakin had never heard of this effect of Force sensitive pregnancies, but then he had little experience beyond Palpatine's teachings.

They had sat and talked late into the night after Palpatine's death, when Anakin had turned up at her door in the early hours. Her heart had sunk at the sight of him there, but this time he was completely sober and only wanted a chance to catch up with her after the events of the day and to check that she was feeling back to normal. He had said little about Palpatine's revelations concerning his mother - Padme thought that was a topic he wanted to avoid for now, but resolved to come back to it at some stage if he did not re-open the topic himself - but spoke a bit about the rest of what Palpatine had said. Anakin had experienced strange dreams around puberty, in which he was floating, unable to move, while hands had touched him in sexual ways. When he had mentioned it to Palpatine, or to his doctor, he had simply been given assurances that erotic dreams were a normal part of adolescence, and what he had found in books or on the holonet had seemed to confirm that. So when they had started again months later and recurred on and off for a couple of years, but this time with women encouraging him to have sex with them, he had assumed it was more of the same, and just a very vivid example of what many young men experienced.

Padme had rubbed his arm, and squeezed his shoulders, and tried to think of something reassuring to say, but she could think of nothing that would not be insulting or patronising, particularly when Anakin falteringly admitted that he had believed himself to still be a virgin, and that his first time as well as her own was to have been after her birthday. She had wrapped her arms around him at that and held him tight, telling his that it would be the first time he chose to have sex, and therefore the first time that 'counted', which seemed to help a bit. He had left when it was already light, and was gone for most of the next day. She was unsure how things were progressing - Anakin had decided to say that Palpatine had died suddenly and unexpectedly while undergoing a medical procedure, and to 'admit' that he had found out that the procedure was something unlicensed and meant to stop the effects of aging, all of which was true in its way. But Padme was unsure how that would go down with the state officials, whether the death of the doctor - cut down by Anakin with his light saber, supposedly after the Emperor's death though actually just before - would be considered justified, whether the officials would decide to ratify Anakin as heir, or charge him with murder.


	7. Chapter 7

Padme was startled to receive a group of very official-looking visitors to the apartment. Apparently they had arranged to meet Anakin there at that time, though he was still absent. Padme welcomed them politely, offered them tea while they waited, and went to ask Mark whether Anakin could be contacted. On her way back to the sitting room she couldn't help but overhear a chunk of conversation between two of them.

"Well at least that's one thing you can cross off your list." The voice sounded amused.

"What?" That one much less amused, probably irritated at being kept waiting.

"The succession of course. Looks like Lord Vader has already started to take steps on that score."

"The mere presence of a young woman is hardly evidence..."

"I was thinking more about her choice of reading material."

Oh gods, that pile of books again. Out in plain sight in front of people who wanted to talk to Anakin about a whole 'list' of things. Though... if 'the succession' was on that list... she considered the implications and smiled, then walked back to the door she had come through, opened and closed it rather more loudly than before, and walked back along the corridor and into the room, where the conversation was now about how charming the garden looked at this time of year.

She studiously avoided looking at the pile of incriminating books, and poured them tea while they waited.

* * *

Once Anakin had returned, she had politely taken her leave of them, and sat in the parlour until they were gone. Anakin came and found her there, picking her up and spinning her around with a huge grin, then kissing her enthusiastically. And then... just standing and holding her, gazing at her as if truly seeing her for the first time, before leaning in for another, softer kiss. Then another. Then, with a sudden shake of the head, remembering that he had been planning to talk rather than kiss. "I'm to be Emperor." he said thickly. "They made a few conditions, but nothing I wouldn't have wanted anyway. A review of the emergency powers mainly, increased democracy, that kind of thing. With luck I shall be able to hand over a lot of the real power and be more of a figure-head just as soon as we can get the Senate used to making proper decisions again. They are going away to write up a press release about Palpatine's death now, and they'll let me go through it before it goes out. It'll mention his age, and the medical procedure going wrong, but nothing about the doctor or what the procedure was. I think they have convinced themselves that Palpatine wasn't to blame for any of it, that it was all the doctor's fault for promising him an anti-aging treatment that worked, preying on an old man's fears, that kind of thing." He frowned. "I don't approve... but, I don't think I could convince them of anything else, their opinion of him would take a lot of shaking. And the important thing is that we stopped him, right?"

"Right. Well, you stopped him. I mostly just lay there being a damsel in distress."

"A damsel who, in spite of her distress, managed to tell her knight in shining armour exactly where she was and what was happening, and kept the villain occupied and distracted until he got there, therefore allowing him to strike the final blow." He smiled, and then added more seriously "Honestly, Padme, if you hadn't kept your head and contacted me I don't know what would have happened. I was... well I was not in a good place after I found the messages he had faked on your account, about how the only person who mattered to you was your father. I had started to hope..." He carefully put her down and stepped away. "I hoped maybe you cared about me, just a bit. And that maybe this was turning into something a lot more than I was expecting. But your messages talked about getting away from your 'owner', as if I was nothing more to you. It made me think I was just kidding myself, expecting a girl I bought for money to have feelings for me."

Padme paused carefully before answering, painfully aware that what she said now might be the most important words in her life. "I do have feelings for you. I think I... I'm well on the way to falling in love with you, if I haven't already. It's all been a bit quick and overwhelming, though, and I don't want to make promises about 'forever' or anything like that when we're both a bit... bruised by it all. I'm guessing you... well it's been a lot to take in, hasn't it? About your mother, about things that happened when you were younger, even about why you felt so strongly about having a child at all."

"I still want one" he assured her, then "Dammit I shouldn't, should I? That was just him manipulating me into making..." he pulled a face of horror and disgust. "Force, it's all a mess. I thought I was rebelling, doing what I wanted and not what I was ordered to do for a change. But I wasn't, I was just doing what he wanted all along."

"Well, maybe it doesn't have to be 'either or'. Maybe you can want something because you want it yourself for your own reasons, as well as because someone else is suggesting it? When you think about pregnancy, what do you picture?"

He smiled gently. "You. All big and rounded and soft. And then a little round soft baby, with pudgy little hands and knees. Have you ever noticed babies' knees? They are the cutest things; I just want to kiss them..." He blushed. "Oops, my knight in shining armour disguise slipped a bit there. Far too soft for a knight, kissing babies' knees."

Padme slid an arm around his waist and said "You can focus on its knees, if I get to blow raspberries on its tummy. Deal?"

He laughed. "Deal. Maybe I could practice on your knees? Not that they're pudgy of course" he hastily added as she raised an eyebrow.

Padme thought for a moment, then blushed but said it anyway. "You can practice on anything you want. And not just... practice. If you... well if you can decide whether or not to start a pregnancy, then we don't exactly have to wait, do we?"

He looked at her in astonishment. She blushed more deeply. After the revelations of the previous day, a woman trying to push him to have sex with her was hardly what he wanted, she should have realised. He lifted her face and said very gently. "It's not that I don't want to. I do, very much. And... waiting has never been one of my strongest points. But... my mother taught me that certain things were right and others were wrong. A lot of those things got muddled up over the years, since Palpatine could argue black was white when he felt like it, but this feels like one of the ones that matters, even if there's no real reason why one day is different from the one before it. Ten days." He entwined their fingers together. "And I will be counting every single one of them and wondering why I'm such a stubborn idiot. But that doesn't mean we can't... practice..."

And with that he leaned in and kissed her again, gently at first, then more passionately, and their arms wrapped around each other, sliding over clothes, until they ended up in a tangle in one of the armchairs and stayed there for quite some time, practicing.

They practiced a lot over the days leading up to Padme's birthday. Despite the fact that Padme had already seen (and felt) him naked, they settled to a self-imposed rule of keeping their underpants on and in place no matter what else they found to practice on, which tested their self-control at times but allowed them to find all kinds of ways of enjoying each other's bodies.

In theory, Anakin had been planning to take Padme out on her birthday for a tour of the city, conscious that she had barely been out of the apartment since her arrival. But he popped by her room in the morning to say 'Happy Birthday' and deliver her present before breakfast, and their plans evaporated when he saw her sitting up in bed in her skimpy nightdress and tousled hair. All their practice paid off, each knowing just how and where to touch to send thrills down the other's spine, amongst other places, and soon her nightdress and his robe were on the floor as they gave themselves to each other completely. The sense of completeness, of connection between them, was more than just a physical thing, the pleasure in their thoughts caressing and entwining even as their bodies did the same, until they rushed headlong to ecstasy in each other's arms before lying in a naked exhausted tangle on crumpled sheets.

In the end, they didn't bother to dress at all that day - each time either of them started to find some clothes, or suggest an activity that needed them, they got distracted again.

They had decided not to worry about getting pregnant or not - Anakin's feelings on the subject were still confused, and they both agreed that whether it happened or not was something they would accept, and they wouldn't allow themselves to feel rushed or pressurised if it didn't happen. If and when Anakin wanted them to conceive, it would happen - assuming of course that nature felt like going along with it at the time, which could never exactly be assumed. And so they spent every night together, learning to enjoy everything about each other, and not worrying about whether their choices were on the 'good for causing pregnancy' list or not.

One month later:

Padme frowned and counted on her fingers, then dug out the chart she had started earlier, and realised somewhat belatedly why their nightly pleasures had been quite so uninterrupted. She blushed as she went through to find Anakin and suggest that, maybe, he had been in favour of pregnancy after all. He was startled, then thrilled.

Two months after that:

They sat together in the doctor's office after the first scan, to check that all was going well with the new little life they had created - though they were luckier than most in that Anakin could feel a strong presence, he could not pick up any detail at such an early stage, beyond a general idea that he or she was healthy and strong in the Force. The scan would hopefully give them a bit more information, and possibly help them to know which of the two names they had chosen would be the more appropriate.

The doctor had done the scan very thoroughly, and seemed determined to check everything out in great detail before giving them any information. Anakin was visibly fidgeting, having promised not to grab the information out of the man's head before he could tell them both together. But finally he was ready to tell them.

They stared at each other in amazement before both breaking into laughter simultaneously. If they had needed any confirmation that Anakin really wanted this pregnancy, then the doctor's news would have dispelled it completely.

He knelt down at Padme's feet and pressed his lips to the gently swelling belly and said, both out loud and through the Force. "Hello Luke. Hello Leia. The two of you are the most wonderful thing that has ever happened, and your mother and I are going to love and cherish you until the end of our days." Padme pushed the same thought towards them, and felt Anakin amplify it and send it on in case they could not hear her yet. Palpatine had been wrong about that, as about so many things. She could sense the growing life - lives - inside her, alongside her link to Anakin, but it didn't drown it out, just added beautiful harmonies. She had love and attention enough for them all.

She didn't fool herself into thinking things would be easy - apart from the difficulty of carrying and then raising twins, Anakin was never going to be the most settled of people, and he had a lot of issues to work through. But, since Palpatine's death, he had begun the slow process of dealing with his confused and contradictory feelings, and of addressing the fragmentary memories of his adolescence. He woke with nightmares sometimes, and Padme would hold him and reassure him. Sometimes he would tell her what had frightened him, or just talk about things that had happened, or about his mother. Other times he would just lie in her arms and allow her to soothe him, or they would make love, and finally he would sleep again. It would be a long and difficult path, but they were on it together now. Even if they were both still wary of talking about 'love' or 'forever', she knew in her heart that those things were true, and one day they would say them out loud.


End file.
